Wrapping Up SEC Media Week With A Feel Good Friday!

The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, and AM 1300 The Zone's Fearless Leader Cameron Parker recap the final day of SEC Media Week. It's all here on The Morning Kickoff!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for tuning in to the podcast of the
Morning Kickoff with myself, Mike Harboll Harts and the World's
Strongest Man in WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry.

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Speaker 1 (00:16):
That's right, Folks, tune in and make sure you tell
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Radio and thirteen hundred The Zone.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good Morning, Looganville, Round Rock Manor Jate Town, Most City,
San Antonio and Sialsby Texas.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to the Morning Kickoff with the World Strongest.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
Man and Mike hars.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
But Mike harj is on vacation, so we have our
fearless leader, Can Parker. Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to a fearless,
free flag fun Friday of the Morning kick.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Good Morning Cam, How's Tampa?

Speaker 5 (01:04):
Good morning Mark Henry. I'll tell you what it's human.
I'm already sweating. It's eight am, and I'm already sweating
out here. I'll tell you what in Mike Card hardball
is where I think me and you want to be
that's the Bahamas. I think he should be here and
we should be in the Bahamas with his family. How
about that.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Listen, you can say whatever you want to. I'm gonna
be where the air conditioning is. Yeah, you can be
on the beach with your feet in water all you
want to.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
Not my thing.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
I'm an inside dog.

Speaker 5 (01:38):
Hey, it's hot here, it's hot in Texas. It's tight
across the world. And you know what else is seating
up the college football season, Mark Henry, Because we're now
forty three days away from kickoff at DKR Texas Texas State.
I can't believe it. In a month's time, me and
you Hardball will be getting ready for Long Gordon's game day.

(02:00):
Of course, our pregame show of Texas Football Live on
Beevo Boulevard, getting just set for the twenty twenty six season.
And that's what we did this week. The SEC Media
Days here in Tampa, Florida concluded with the Texas long
Cords the last team to take the podium, Mark Henry,
Is that coincidental that the Texas long Corns were the

(02:21):
last team to wrap up media Days?

Speaker 6 (02:24):
No?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I mean they have the most right now in college
football at stake. With the way that the football pronosticators
are looking at everything, you would think that LSU would
have a lot of cats shade going into the season
with the new coach, new quarterback, you know, like an

(02:47):
unproven team with a lot of high dollar.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Players on that roster.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
But Georgia's not going anywhere they were on earlier week
and we got we heard a lot of sound from
Kirby Smart and the way that he saw things. But
I don't see a problem with them ending it with
Texas because at the end of the day, Georgia is

(03:16):
the alpha and Texas is though maker.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
There they're the end.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Georgia started it off and has laid all the groundwork
for what a good football championship team looks like.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
In Texas coming up trying to take it from him.

Speaker 5 (03:33):
Yeah, it's no coincidence that on the last day of
the media days, Lane Kiff and Steve Sarkesian we're taking
the podium. And that's because right now, I think in
the SEC, maybe in all college football, mark the guys
with the best sound bites, the two best coach of
the sound bites. I mean, I would put Kurt Signetti
from Indiana in his own tier because he's got a

(03:56):
good sound bite. But also Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian
are right there, and you know they were asked a
lot of pressing questions. Lang Kiffin too. We'll get too
later on in today's program, Mark, but let's start off
with Steve Sarkisian's opening comments from his media presser yesterday.
This was live on the stage at the SEC Media Days,

(04:18):
and he let off Mark Henry not shine away from
this year's season expectations for the Texas Longboards.

Speaker 7 (04:27):
The standard is the standard, and I know the expectations
are high outside of our building. I know everybody wants
to say what percentage we are to make the playoffs
or what percentage it is for us to you know,
win a conference championship or make the CFP or be
a national champion. But the expectations are always high within
our organization. They're higher than you would imagine. They're higher

(04:51):
than they are on the outside world. And now more
than ever, external factors don't motivate us. It's what we're
doing internally, and we've got a very hungry football team.
We've got a team that competed their tails off a
year ago and fell short of making the College Football
Playoff after the previous two years being in the semi
finals and knocking on the door to play for a

(05:11):
national title with the ball inside the ten yard line.
So those external factors, whether it's a comment or a tweet,
or a podcast or an interview via pundit, that's not
going to motivate us. What motivates us is what we
do every single day. And I'm proud of the leadership
on our team for buying into that idea.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
I think also, Mark, you look at how last season
ended for Texas. You know, you had back to back
years in which the Longhorns lost in the CFP semi final. Right,
you lose to Washington, you had the ball, you're the
red zone, fourth down, come up short, Ohio State fourth down,
goal line stand with the Buckeyees defense come up short.
Last season, you know, Texas really got eliminated from the

(05:57):
playoff when they lost to Florida. You know, all the
wins the rest of the season obviously helped their case,
but Texas never really was playing for a College Football
Playoffs spot because of those early losses to Ohio State,
to Florida, and of course to Georgia. I feel like,
you know, that feeds Texas knowing it's almost I think

(06:17):
more fuel marked than losing on a last second play
versus hey, we had a case and we didn't even
get to show it in the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
I think that that's one hundred percent right.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
Cam.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
They they had opportunities to, uh, to shine and to
put themselves in a in the in the cat seed,
if you will, on the captain's chair, and you know,
losing to Florida derailed all that because they didn't look
at Florida as being a.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Championship caliber team.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
And coach you know saying is a coach saban uh
I turned into Mike Harts. Uh aren't and and uh
all of the coaches that were we're on right here
at the end said the same thing, like you can

(07:13):
you know, lose three games in a really really hyper
competitive conference, or you can play a middle school and
and and win two lose two games, and you're that
team is still going to be put in front of you.

Speaker 4 (07:30):
Uh, it's not fair.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Texas has got to win the games that they're supposed
to win. You know, I wanted to bring up something
to you, what what did you think was a trap game?
But we'll do that in the second hour, like there
there are. This is the year. You know, we we've
had other years where we expected Texas to be that

(07:56):
championship team, and like you said, they fell short a
few times against Washington, they fell short, you know, as recent.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
As last season.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
I think emotionally they got beat in the Georgia game
and I don't know if they ever recovered emotionally, even though.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
They had a win in the bowl game.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
I feel like that that was a big blow to
the taking a win out of your sales, and I
know coach Sark is not trying to have that this year.

Speaker 5 (08:34):
Yeah, the Georgia loss, I felt like it is so
different from their losses against Ohio State in Florida last year.
It felt like Texas was right there for most of
the game, but just almost like a mental block, right,
Like mentally they just can't get over the Georgia hump
and you're playing on the road night game, that's thehiose state.

(08:56):
It just felt like this was a young Texas team,
like they were still putting the pieces together, right. I
felt like if Texas played a house state at the
end of the season, it would have been a much
different ball game. I don't think it would have been
fourteen to seven for either side. I think Ohio State
also was a better team by the end of the year.
And the Florida loss, I think Florida just came out
and punched Texas in the mouth in the long course

(09:16):
show and they.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
And not only did they not recover, but you know,
when you have frustrations, then everything multiplies. And where Texas
was bad was special teams. And that's what really showed
as ugly head is you know, the on side kick,

(09:43):
the turnovers, like you've got to not make those mistakes,
especially against any elite team like Georgia, because then it
was just a snowball downhill of events.

Speaker 5 (10:01):
So we heard from Steve Starcusian talking about season expectations.
We're gonna hear a lot more from him throughout today's show.
We're also going to hear from QB one arch Manning Mark.
We got to sit down with him and I got
some thoughts on on the face of Texas football and
why Texas fans should feel a little bit more confident
heading this season. Of course, we sat down with Trevor

(10:22):
Gooseby as well Hardball and Craig Way we're gonna have
that conversation for you, Hardball and Arch manning one on
one back to back years. I tell you what, Mark,
don't tell Harje this. I think Arch got a little
excited when he saw Harsh and he was like, we're
doing one on one, all right, let's do it. And
Harsh was like, ah, I don't think we have time.
You know, they had to catch a private chat back
to Austin and Arch and John Bianco that the Texas

(10:45):
Idea was like, now, let's knock this out. But we
can't let we can't let Harje's head get any bigger, right, Oh.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
No, Hey, listen, I can see him getting a little
giddy and being able to uh, you know, being able
to interview Arch one on one and you know, even
if not one on one, you know, you and him
getting the feature.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
Also have CJ. Boga from on Texas Football. He's gonna
help us recap SEC media days and of course the
World's Strongest take from the World's Strongest Man. It's a
feel good Friday here on the morning kickoff. We're just
getting rolling.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Back with Avengince, World Strongest Man Cam Parker Here on
the morning kickoff. Guys, I'm I'm super excited to hear
more about what happened cam with y'all being down there
in Tampa for the week and and just to see
Harge getty from and hear more about that.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
That that that just brought me a lot of joy.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
Right just then, well, I'll tell you what. We're gonna
play his conversation with Arch Manning yesterday. But but before
we do that, Mark, I wanted to start by talking
about how different it felt for Arch yesterday. Think back
to a year ago at the SEC Media Days and
you were there in Atlanta, Georgia, bu Hardball and Craig

(12:17):
and you know, I said this yesterday in Craig Show.
When Arch came in, you know, with Sark, the Texas
players to the media days, it felt like, you know,
a kid on the first day of school, you know,
you know, wide eyes looking around. You know, all these
people and not many human beings experienced this. You probably
understand it better than most. I mean, he had fifty

(12:39):
to one hundred media members following him around last year
every stop, and he wasn't used to that. And I
think for for us in the media and the fans,
we've always known the Manning name right as a kid.
I knew who Peyton Manning was before I knew who
my cousins were, right, Eli Manning, Archie Manning, the Manning family.

(13:00):
It's a household name. And so when we knew about
Cooper and his son, Arch and the hype began. Everybody
was ready for Arch Manning, right. We were all excited
to see what Arch Manning could do on a football field,
what he was going to say. But Arch Manning wasn't
ready for college football yet, I don't think, and he

(13:20):
wasn't ready for the media fractice that he was going
to undergo at Texas to start, and he was not
comfortable last year. And I think he would say this
to us too. He was still getting used to the
media frenzy, right, and it took him some time. Even

(13:40):
after you know, Texas football post games. I think Craig
White would attest to this, even with the local media,
it felt like he was still kind of getting used
to all the questions. And of course when you start
out and you're not playing well, it probably adds to
that frustration and not being at ease. And I think
over the second half of the season, as we saw
Arch get more comfortable behind center, he got more comfortable

(14:04):
with the media, and I think, you know, by Michigan
he played his best football game. So we fast forward
to yesterday. He comes in and he began his conversation
with Craig Way, which you can hear, I think later
on Today's show with Jay Kerman. He told Craig like, actually,
I dred to come of this. I did not want
to come to the Media Days again. We talked to

(14:25):
his dad, Cooper, He talked with some staff members at
Texas and he said, you know what they told me, like, hey,
enjoy it while at last, because this is probably Arch
Manning's last season at Texas. You know, maybe he comes
back into the year, but likely, in all likelihood, this
is the last time March Manning will be at the
Media Days. So hey, let me enjoy it, let me

(14:46):
try and have fun. And it felt like yesterday, Mark
he was finally at ease with all of the popularity
that comes with being QB one of the Texas Longhorns.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
Cam.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
One of the things that we do with young talent
in pro wrestling is we do media training and we
let them know that there are people that are trying
to set them up, get them to brag. There are
people that's setting them up, trying to get them to
doubt themselves publicly. They're trying to set them up to

(15:26):
gloat a little, to tell more about what they're doing
in house than they should let out. Archie, he might
have saw itself fall into a couple of traps last year.
He might have felt guarded at times, like what are
you trying to get me to say? You know, now,

(15:48):
he's a master. He's done it enough. He's comfortable with
them asking any question, and he knows how to deflect
that question.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
It's like, I'm not trying to hear that, but this
is what I give you.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Like, those things happen over time as well as I'm
sure that Archer has had some really good training they
where people would go and sit down with him and.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
Kind of put him ahead of the eight ball, if
you will.

Speaker 5 (16:21):
So let's go ahead and get to it. Let's hear
Harj's conversation with arch Manning yesterday at the twenty twenty
six SEC Media Days.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
And then starting quarterback for the University of Texas. And
you know, it seems to be a comedian because every
time I see you you're doing something for social media
and always ends up in some jokes, and we'll get
to those in just a minute, but I wanted to
ask you this. You know, coming into the season, obviously
the hype and everything like that from last year and
you went through some tough times, not just on the field,

(16:54):
but just trying to get away from everything. What is
something that you've learned about yourself during that time from
then to where you are now.

Speaker 8 (17:02):
Yeah, I've learned a lot about myself, but the fail
are of the most is that I'm surrounded by such
good coaches and teammates. I think for them to have
my back during those tough times it was really important
to me and really special, and I'm.

Speaker 9 (17:14):
Glad I'm surrounded by such good people.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
And now you coming into this season, it's a little
bit quieter. I mean, everything's under control. You've earned the
respect of a lot of people, but more importantly that
locker room. Those guys saw you get up every single week,
show up and give them an opportunity to win. So
as your teammates start to look at you, what are
some of the biggest things that you've shown them and

(17:36):
they've shown you.

Speaker 5 (17:37):
When it comes to the stuff like that.

Speaker 8 (17:39):
Yeah, just them having my back through the tough times
meant a lot to me. The least I could do
was give them all every day. And I think we've
got a good team this year and we're excited about
the falling.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
So we were talking to Trevor Gooseby a little bit
earlier and he talked about the competitiveness that everybody has.
Colin Simmons, obviously, y'all Scavenger Hunt is getting a lot
of play right now, but in the reality of it all,
your team is obviously going to be the winner.

Speaker 8 (18:05):
Right, Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don't see
why not we won. They're just saying that we cheated.
I don't know how that works as scavenge fronto. They
said no cars.

Speaker 9 (18:14):
We went on a lion scooter.

Speaker 8 (18:16):
So yeah, we won. We had convinced we had a
detackle Josie. We had to convince him with a tomahawk
stake to kind of hurry up a little bit.

Speaker 9 (18:25):
He was kind of straggling.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
So yeah, it was a clean, clean win on our part.

Speaker 5 (18:31):
Yeah, I think that's gonna be debated. We're gonna see
if they could go to the further review.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
We'll find that out, But now I want to get
into some of.

Speaker 5 (18:38):
The fun stuff.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Obviously, the offseason has been what it is, you get
the workouts in. But what is something that you, guys,
besides the scavenger hunt that y'all look forward to when
you get a chance to get away from the game
of football.

Speaker 8 (18:51):
Yeah, I think he's done a good job of hanging
out outside of football this year, building that connection because
you're gonna need it throughout the season.

Speaker 9 (18:58):
But uh, first only, I've been playing.

Speaker 8 (19:00):
A lot of golf to kind of get away, going
out there with other teammates that are better than me.
So it's always fun to play with someone that's better
than you. I mean, we've had a good time.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
I saw a video of you and your dad playing
and it seemed like he was harassing you a little
bit about your game.

Speaker 5 (19:18):
Who's the better golfer?

Speaker 6 (19:19):
He's a better golfer. We have completely different games. He done,
he hits every fairway, he doesn't hit.

Speaker 9 (19:24):
It very far, and I hit it far and don't
hit any fairaways.

Speaker 6 (19:27):
So we'd be good, good scramble partners.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
And if you had to pick someone on your team
to be your golf teammate, who would it be?

Speaker 8 (19:37):
That's a good question. I would say Ratt Anderson one
of my roommates. He's a good golfer. I feel like
we would fight too much, so probably. I heard Carson Berger,
one of our running backs, is a good player. So,
but I'm trying to get other guys that are trying
to get Gooseby out there.

Speaker 9 (19:53):
So I guess we'll see.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
And speaking of Goozby, obviously his brother being on campus
now basketball player.

Speaker 5 (20:00):
We saw the windmill dunk that he did last year.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Trevor, that is have you been out there trying to
show him some of your skills.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
I know you were dealing with a foot injury, but.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Now that you're back, have you shown them that, Hey,
you're not the only one with bounce.

Speaker 8 (20:15):
Yeah, we played two years ago. Gos me way better
than anyone else out there. I played with Cam this
offseason talking about bounce. He's got a lot of that.
So we've had some fun.

Speaker 6 (20:25):
But I guess now we're just locking in the football.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Speaking of locking in the football, you mentioned Cam, but
you also got some running backs in that room that
look like they can hit some home runs. Talk about
the new additions of Hollywood and re Leak.

Speaker 8 (20:38):
Yeah, it's been great having them both good guys and
really good players. They can score from wherever on the field,
and we got a lot more depth in that room.
We got nibbled in that room, Mike Terry. And then
this guy Derek Cooper is gonna be the real deal.

Speaker 9 (20:50):
So we're excited about him.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
And as we come to an end, SEC media days
are about done and now it's time for football season.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
What are you most excited out?

Speaker 9 (21:02):
I'm trying to do a better job this year. Was
taking it one day at a time.

Speaker 8 (21:05):
So I think attacking every day and trying to win
each day and that that gives me some inner piece
and makes the days more fun.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
You know what else gives you inner piece? Hitting the
golf ball down the faraway.

Speaker 9 (21:17):
That's right. Nothing better than that, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
There is folks arch Manning doing his things and looking
forward to the football season.

Speaker 4 (21:25):
Wow, man, that's pretty good. Hard I like it. I
like it.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Now. I got some problems with the cameraman, Like I
felt like I was watching the being in serena.

Speaker 10 (21:37):
Tennis match, going back and forth. Yeah, I'll tell you what.
I'll tell you what. It was kind of impromptu. You know,
we didn't get to have them come to our table.
We had to come to them, so you know, it's
it's a little bit of work. But you know, honestly,
we need our cameraman Mark Henry out there.

Speaker 5 (21:55):
You know.

Speaker 4 (21:56):
Yeah, it's just like w W.

Speaker 5 (21:57):
It's just like y'all's videos back. You know, he had
the camera and then they're szooming in and you know,
moving over. That's what I call.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
You did good, Cam. I'm just I'm just busting your
golf balls.

Speaker 4 (22:13):
All right.

Speaker 5 (22:14):
We're just getting sorry to hear. In the Morning Kickoff,
we're gonna have a lot more sound from the SEC
media days from Steve Sarkis and talking about the possibility
the Longhorns adding another offensive lineman to the roster and
what did Lynn Kiffin say about his vanity fair shots
at Ole Miss. We'll get into all of that here
on a feel good Friday, don't go anywhere. We'll be

(22:35):
back after this hour. One of the Morning Kickoff continues
here Cameron Parker alongside the World's strongest man, that's right
and real. Our producer is Ronald Savage Junior back in
the studio. He's doing a great job collecting all of
our audio clips from this past weekend and the ones
we missed on Twitter. So everything you hear mister Ronald

(22:58):
pushing the ones in sheos. R Ball is in the
Bahamas until next Tuesday, so me and Mark Henry have
you covered today and then also next months at Monday.
But hey, Mark, let's get into more of these audio
clips from the SEC media days. Let's hear more from
Texas Longhorn's head coach Steve Starkesian. We heard from arch

(23:19):
Manning in the last segment his one on one with Hardball.
Let's hear what Sark had to say about arch Manning.
This is from a local media breakout session, so there's
no video here. It was Sark was brought to us
before he went onto the main press conference stage. The
first question, of course, if you were taking bets, what
would the first question be arch Manning would probably would

(23:43):
have been like two to one odds, And sure enough,
first question Sark out of the gate was about arch
Manning's progress heading into year two as a starter. Here
is Steve Starkeshan.

Speaker 7 (23:55):
So yeah, like anything, you know, time on task together
for Arch nine is benefit and I think we learned
a lot as the season went on last year, and
I think that we both evolved as the season went on,
and I thought we were much better offense in the
second half of the season we were in the first half.
And I think that, you know, at that time, not

(24:16):
only did we try to play more of arch strengths,
but I think to the strengths of the guys that
were around him and who we were as an offensive
football team. Hopefully we can evolve from that this year.
But that's the growth part of it. And again that's communication.
That's us talking and being canned with one another and
what we like, what we don't like, why, who we

(24:36):
liked doing certain things. I think from Will's perspective of
him being on staff, he's got great rapport with our players,
and he's got great rapport with our defensive players, but
he interacts with the offensive players, and I enjoy that
because obviously, you know, I interact with the defensive players
quite a bit as much as I'm with the offense
a lot of the times. And so I just think

(24:57):
the continuity that he and I have, I feel like
we speak the same language on a regular basis.

Speaker 5 (25:04):
You know, I'm very comfortable with him.

Speaker 7 (25:05):
It was, you know, everything I was hoping this could
be you know in December when we decided to do
this has really kind of come to fruition for so
it's pretty cool.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
Yeah. So Mark, we talked about Arts getting more comfortable,
like you know with the media, uh, playing quarterback. From
what Sarch just said, you know, he's getting more comfortable
being a team leader and that's what it takes for
him to make that next step to being a high
spein level contender but also a signal caller in the
NFL too.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
Kim, I've been to captain the favorite team I have
been on, and a lot of that is because of
benevolent leadership, being able to be kind, uh to be
for lack of a better term, uh, the buffer between

(25:59):
the coach and the rest.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
Of the team.

Speaker 5 (26:01):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
There's a lot of factors that come into leadership. And
if Archer is embodying the fact that he can go
to coach must Champ and say, hey, I need some
work on this, like can you throw this at me
a little bit so I can you know, kind of
get a good look at it.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Don't don't tell me when it is, just throw it
on me.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
And the same thing with the off with coach Sarkisian
being able to say, coach, like, can we light in
the moment a little bit because people a little tight?
You know, stuff ain't you know, everybody's not on the
same page right now. Let me let me do this, Like,
you have to be able to orchestrate as a leader
the things that the coach can't do, because it's gonna

(26:46):
come across as a coach being a tyrant. And I've
heard so many elite coaches say that there's guys that
he used to tell, Hey, I'm gonna come and I'm
gonna get on you pretty hard. I'm not talking to you,
I'm talking to somebody else. But if I say it
to you, then they'll get there. We're in in line,

(27:07):
Like there's a lot of underlying things that happen in
team sports and in leadership that Art needed to learn.
And if he's now got to the point where all
those things are like clicking one after the other, then
he can handle it. Then this is gonna be a
special season because that means that he's not in the

(27:29):
dark about anything.

Speaker 5 (27:33):
I think it's also crucial to when you're examining a
player in any sport of their season, you know, compare
the first half to the second half. And it's so
easy to fall in love with players who start out hot, right,
because you're just watching all of a sudden, he's got
six touchdowns game one. Oh you know, he's on the
heistman radar. It was the opposite for Arts, right. He

(27:54):
started off slow and progressively got better as the season
went on. But the weird thing with arch Mark was
that because of his slow start, he was an easy
target for you know, a lot of the talking heads,
the media heads, fans who are just okay, he doesn't
have it. He does not have it, And it's ironic
considering that's exactly how his uncles were. But if you

(28:17):
look at the last six games of the season, and
of course you can point to okay, maybe the opponents
weren't as good compared to like Florida Oklahoma, but you
know you had Georgia in there, you had a and
m you had Michigan. You took At the last six games,
Mark Henry arch Manning accounted for nineteen touchdowns and only

(28:37):
two interceptions. He got better as the season went on.
For those six games he accounted for three hundred total
yards or more, including a Michigan game which he threw
for for two hundred, he ran for one fifty five
and he counted for four touchdowns. So we saw Arch
Manning get better as the season ended last season. That

(28:59):
gives meet confidence believing that he's going to be a
better quarterback going in the next year. And what we
just heard there from Sark, he wants to get better.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
Right.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
I think you know a lot of athletes who they
might are, They might be as talented when they wake
up in the morning, right, they already have that talent,
but you got to put in that work. You got
to put in that effort. I think Arch has the talent,
he just had it to hone in maybe on the
mental skills in matching up his confidence level with his
talent versus what he was put out in the field

(29:34):
And now we're seeing him also put in that work
off the field as well.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Well.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
I mean, you're definitely gonna get to see the We're
gonna have to reap the benefits of all the work
that Art.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
Just put in. But he didn't do that by himself.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
And the biggest we talked about the allies for Arch
what was gonna make him more comfortable? Will was going
to make him stand out and being in a team sport.
He needs complimentary things to be able to do that,
and the number one thing is protection.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
You got to start with protection.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
And then secondly a running game where he could hand
the ball to somebody and not have to take the
pounding all the time. I think the confidence that the
surroundings got better has made him more comfortable and made
him better.

Speaker 5 (30:30):
You mentioned the importance of protection. I'll tell you what
up next. We're going to talk about Texas might be
adding a four year offensive lineman. We spent some time
on the forty acres who might be returning. We got
Cjvogol coming up at eight point fifteen, and of course
Mark Henry, the world's strongest man, his world strongest take

(30:52):
Our one concludes after this before we wrap up our
one in the morning kickoff here turned back to the
SEC media days yesterday here from coach Steve Sarkisian a
little bit more. We talked about how important it will
be for Texas football to protect arch Manning up front.

(31:13):
Mark we saw it last year against Ohio State in
second the first game of season, and we knew we knew,
oh it could be a long year if arch Manning
will be running like a chicken with his head cut off,
and for the most part he was. So what did
sark and his staff do. They went out and they
attacked the portal, brought in two linemen with many starts

(31:37):
in their college football career, the CAG team with Brandon Baker,
and to build what we think is going to be
a pretty good offensive line for Texas football. But we
got some news earlier in the week that Cole Hudson,
who was a four year player at Texas twenty three

(31:57):
career starts, forty eight games, went undrafted. It was signed,
was not signed to a rookie deal. Did attend the
Cleveland Browns mini camp, I believe, but was let go.
Well he's fired, filed rather uh injunction to possibly play

(32:19):
a fifth year of college football, Mark Henry. Now, how
would he fit into the lineup, the rotation, you know,
that remains to be seen. But here's what Steve Sarkisian
had to say about the possibility of Cole Hudson returning
to the Texas football team this season.

Speaker 7 (32:39):
Yeah, well, you know, I think obviously we saw the
five for five get passed. Cole was in a unique
situation because you know, he didn't get drafted, he didn't
get signed by an NFL team, and so you know,
I think between his family, his attorneys, uh, they wanted
to go for this and and you know it was
up to them, you know, and they did that.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
You know.

Speaker 7 (33:00):
I think for us, you know, if it ultimately all
goes through, we're getting a veteran player, right, We're getting
a guy who I think has twenty three career starts
and has appeared in forty eight games. You know where
that lands as far as you know, what does it
look like? And with with Laura Seymour and Jre Kojo
all the bunch of different guys, at the end of
the day, there's nothing like having an experienced player, you know,

(33:22):
on your team in your locker room, in the offensive
line room that you know.

Speaker 5 (33:27):
What does the future hold. I don't know.

Speaker 7 (33:28):
I haven't I haven't seen Cole and what it's been
seven months, you know, since since the you know, our
last time we played. So there's a lot that we
have to kind of sort through and unpack.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
But if we're fortunate to have.

Speaker 11 (33:40):
Him back, it'd be great.

Speaker 5 (33:43):
Mark. A lot to say about this is that in
the sec especially with how long this football schedule is,
now depth matters, and if Cole Watson he won't start.
But if he's just going to be there just in
case uh Seymour goes down or Covid doesn't pan out,
or just to come in for some extra run blocking

(34:05):
plays down on the goal line, I am all for it.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
We're on the same page. Last year, Hard used to
really grind my gears with the fact that he doubted
the fact that I always wanted a power offense inside
the twenty. Bring in an extra linement, take the tight
end away, go three wide receivers if you want, if
you go, go bring in of two tight ends and

(34:32):
get rid of a wide receiver and uh and bring
in the extra linement and try to pound the ball like,
use them as in motion, use them as a counter
trade from a full back position, like all kinds of
things they coach. Start drew up some awesome plays last year.
There was a couple of plays that counter trade plays

(34:55):
that he drew up where Arch was the runner. U.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
Well, man, why won't we run that more?

Speaker 2 (35:03):
You know, but you don't want to run your prize
quarterback all the time. But I'm just saying, like they're
having an extra offensive lineman that can be very beneficial
when you go to a max protection or you go
into a power running formation inside of twenty.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
Yeah, so the way it shapes up, obviously Trevor Giwiesby
will start at left tackle, but Hudson, you know, who
played a lot at guard. You have Lauren Seymour coming
in from from Western Kentucky. He's listed as six to two.
There might be some questions about that. Of course, Jaydon Chapman,
the red shirt right behind him, hasn't had a lot

(35:51):
of playing time. Andre Kojo, who believes coming off a
season injury ending injury a year ago, could be the
backup at right townle or guard for either Baker or
Melvin Siani. The transfer from Wake four. So there's a
lot of guys Mark Kennery who are proven that will
be the starters, but backup wise, not a lot of

(36:15):
reps there. And I think that's why Steve Sarkejan is like, yeah,
you know, he's got twenty three starts, forty eight games.
It's crucial to have that depth and just to have that,
you know, that experience on the offensive line that knows
what it takes to play in the SEC.

Speaker 4 (36:33):
Yeah, Cam, they they have an.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
Extra game and hard, and I talked about this yesterday.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
As you were on the show.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
You're gonna need to try to hurry up and get
a lead and give your guys some risks.

Speaker 4 (36:48):
You're gonna need some load management games.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Like if you can pour fifty on, pour fifty on,
and let's see what this second and third units look like,
because you wonly let these guys get as few reps
as possible maintaining the league and without doing the prevent
defense or prevent offense where you're just going.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
Through the motions you want to.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
You want to test those guys that are on your
second units because you want those to be first unit guys.

Speaker 4 (37:23):
You you want them to be first unit guys.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
If somebody comes up and steals my position, then so
be it.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
That means we're a better team, exactly right.

Speaker 5 (37:36):
So that's what happens. Yeah, waiting to see what happens
with this Cole Hudson situation. It does appear like that
he could be returning for a fifth season with the
University of Texas.

Speaker 4 (37:51):
From U camp. Do you think that that he that
he would start if he came.

Speaker 5 (37:58):
Back, No, I don't think so. I think Seymour will
start at left guard, obviously Brandon Baker at right guard,
but just having that depth. I ain't complaining, and neither
neither is kylein Flood or Steve Sarkisian. Hey, we are
one hour into the morning takeoff. We got one more

(38:20):
hour ago. We had CJ. Bugle coming up eight fifteen
Central Time, mark Henry's World Strongest take We're going to
hear more from Arch Manning, from Steve Sarkijan, even little
bit of lame Kiffin sprinkled in for you here on
a feel good Friday. One hour down, one hour to go.
Here in a feel good Friday. It's the morning kickoff show.

(38:42):
Hope your Friday is off to a good start. It
is for me and the World's Strongest Man. That's right special.
Thanks to Ronald Savage Junior back in the studio producing
for US today. Hardball will be out this weekend and Monday,
so it'll be me and the Hall of Famer and
you through the weekend recapping. At DC Media Days, we

(39:04):
heard from Steve Sarkeesian in the first Now we're talking
about the season's expectations heading into twenty twenty seven, twenty six.
He is not shying away from it. We heard a
little bit from his perspective as well on possibly Cole
Hudson returning four a fifth year. If you missed that,
check out the Morning Kickoff podcast on the iHeart Radio app.

(39:29):
A lot more the cover here in the second. Now
we're gonna hear from CJ. Fogel from on Texas Football
up next. He was here all week long. Get his
perspective on what he heard from Steve Sarkejian, arch Manning,
Trevor Gusby, Colin Simmons and more. Also the world's strongest
take as well. I'm gonna hear from from Lane Kiffen.

(39:49):
An awkward question was asked him at the media press
conference yesterday and he kind of had an awkward response
as well. But Mark, as always, we want to hear
from QB one and we want to hear from Steve Sarkisian,
and I think it's fair to say that Texas football

(40:10):
will go as far as arch Manning will go this year.
And we talked about the expectations, we talked about him,
you know, getting used to the media frenzy. Sark was
was pretty fired up yesterday when he was asked about
arch Manning on his overall thoughts of how arch played
last season and what he's looking for in twenty twenty six.

(40:34):
Here is Steve Starkejian on QB one arch Manning.

Speaker 4 (40:38):
Arch Manning.

Speaker 12 (40:40):
The name on the back of his jersey brings us
much notoriety as the one on the front. How did
the growing pains of last season of how would that
benefit him this year?

Speaker 7 (40:50):
Yeah, I'd like to touch on that. You know, arch
Manning a year ago wasn't on social media or on
television saying I'm going to be the first pick of
the draft. He wasn't on television saying I'm gonna win
the Heisman Trophy.

Speaker 5 (41:03):
All he did was work really hard.

Speaker 7 (41:05):
All he did was try to be the best teammate
he can be, and then we had some failures as
a team. He he didn't play to the way of
what he was capable of playing, and then those same
people that were saying that about him wanted to criticize
and demean him almost for letting them down because he
didn't live up to what they thought he was going
to be. Very interesting concept right there, and I think

(41:28):
the way of what he got put through probably would
have melted or destroyed ninety nine percent of people in
his shoes. All he did was stay consistent to true
to who he was was, which continue to work hard,
continue to be a great teammate, try to get better.

Speaker 5 (41:46):
And he did, and he.

Speaker 7 (41:47):
Came out and played the second half of the season
at a really high level. We go seven and one.
He's got twenty touchdowns, only two turnovers. He's a fantastic
player at the end of the year. But he didn't
go back on social media and say I told you so.
And all he's done this year is continue to work
hard again. And so there's always going to be outside
opinions of that guy, and that comes with the territory.

(42:08):
He understands that. But I think he learned a lot
about himself last year about dealing with adversity and overcoming
and I think he learned a lot about his teammates
and the support that they gave him, and then recognizing
the mental and physical toughness that he has to play
the position to.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
Be their leader. And I think that he's grown into
a great leader for us.

Speaker 7 (42:27):
And so I'm very proud of ars for the way
he's carried himself, the way he represents the University of Texas.
I think right now he's a very dangerous player because
he learned a lot from last season and he's surrounded
by some good players, and I think that he's a
guy that's poised for a heck of a season.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
Wow, what a great cheerleader to have on your side
and somebody to bring in points that were very valid.
I think the expectations of the fans superseded the expectation
of Arch Manning by far and Arch that was that
was great, Uh a breakdown.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
We never heard Arch brag about the Heisman.

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Or any of the things, like he just kept his
head down. But but but they did not disclose that
Arch had a foot injury, which I think some of
that played into the fact that when he rolled out
now Oklahoma, maybe his body was just numb and he
didn't feel anything. He stepped up and made some really

(43:34):
good throws on the run and rolling out.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Of the pocket.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
Fantastic players. But I want to see that the entire season.
And I think with a healthy Arch, a guy that
had a off season foot surgery and has held up
and from what all the reports that Arch looks as
good as uh they've seen him look, I think that, yeah,

(44:01):
there's gonna be another room for improvement.

Speaker 4 (44:05):
But you work on your deficiencies.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
You are you are out of your mind if you
didn't think that this off season that coach Sark was
going to work on Arch.

Speaker 4 (44:22):
Rolling out of the pocket, throwing the ball on the run.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
They don't run a lot of waggles, they don't run
a lot of RPO and the sprint option. But I
would like to see it because of Archer's ability. But
you also put your quarterback at risk for getting hit more.
So you don't want to do that either. So we'll see.

Speaker 5 (44:45):
There's a thought that in the NFL, it takes a
quarterback about thirty starts before you know if hey, he
has a career in this league as a starter, or
if he does it manning what thirteen starts last season?
He had what two or three in the years before.

(45:06):
He's just getting started. He's just getting started here. And
I talked about it in the first hour and Starks
to it there. Seven to one record, last eight games,
twenty touchdowns, two turnovers. He got better on the field,
he got better as a leader, and I think he
got better in between the ears. Now here's Arch. When

(45:28):
he was asked yesterday about the new York Times piece
that came out earlier in the season. I think it
was like week two or week three, calling him a flop.
Here's arch Manning on dealing with that adversity.

Speaker 4 (45:43):
Yeah, I mean, there's nothing you can do.

Speaker 8 (45:44):
Everyone has an opinion if people are paid to talk
to the media, so there's really nothing you can do.
I'm trying to control the control of those but it
probably lights a little bit of a fire in me
and continue to try and improve myself one week at
a time.

Speaker 5 (45:57):
The biggest mark I like the way he carries himself.
He's a humble kid. He talked to him yesterday. You
wouldn't know the family he comes from, you wouldn't know
his upbringing. He is who he is. He's a he's
a well mannered young man. He's he's a lot of
respect for for a lot of people. And he's also

(46:20):
he's dealt with a lot of expectations that you know,
I'm never going to understand what it's like growing up
with the many name on the back of your chest.
And obviously a lot went into that article. You know,
I believe that might have been dead Spin too, you know,
maybe it was a clickbait. You know, headline. But hey,
it called him a flop and in Arch, you know,

(46:42):
took it on the chin. He recognizes it, but it
doesn't feel like it's weighing him down. Mark. You know,
That's the thing I worry about sometimes with these athletes.
We have all these expectations on him, right. We see
a lot of times with first round draft picks embyer
one overall picks where all of a sudden, You're the
face of this franchise. You're gonna be our savior. And
a lot of times they just can't handle it. And

(47:04):
I was, I wonder, you know, what's that got to
be like for a nineteen twenty year old kid who's
going to come in here and save Texas, be the
face of Texas football. And I think he's handled himself
in a very mature way. And as Sark said, a
lot of people would have melted under the spotlight.

Speaker 4 (47:23):
Yeah, a lot. I mean you look at it.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Man, Imagine you come into a situation and they say, hey,
you gotta save us, you have to do it. That's
a lot of pressure to put on one individual. Like
I hear multiple people that are you know, in the

(47:50):
multi media world saying that Arch is not ready and
maybe Arches, I think he's ready for a moment, but
maybe he's not ready to be the all time greatest
quarterback at Texas. But then then maybe again, this season

(48:13):
might prove that he is. So like, we don't know
until he's out there and the season starts. Well, we
got forty three days.

Speaker 5 (48:26):
Forty three days, so get golf.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
Forty three man just a little over a month and
they'll be proven it. Let's wait until he has the
opportunity to prove it before we negate.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
Him being great.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
I just think that the negativity and the doubt only
happens like right now during the dead period, like.

Speaker 4 (48:54):
Where you know there's no sports.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
People are trying to drum up something just to put
news out there, like guys, cut it out, do your homework.

Speaker 5 (49:07):
I think it's fair to say Mark that he has
a different level of expectations set for him than any
other quarterback in college football. So he's held to a
different standard. And I saw it last year where you know,
constantly being called a flop or a bus and every throw,

(49:28):
every run, you know, it was being micro analyzed, and
you know, looking around these other college quarterbacks and it's
you know, It's like, how come you're not? He like,
I understand, arch was the number one overall quarterback in
his class in certain rankings, but no other college quarterback
was under the scrutiny he was. He was as scrutinized

(49:52):
mark as Patrick Mahomes was right. The Jihn hurts he's
not even NFL quarterback this year has this charter. But
I'll tell you what year two as a starter, I
think we're gonna see a much improved arch Manny. We
got one more hour to go here the Morning Kickoff
up next, we got CJ. Fogel from on Texas Football.

(50:13):
We'll stop by he was in Tampa all week and
get his thoughts on the biggest storylines, an update on
John Meredith, a five star reclassifying and can be taken
the field for Texas football this year. All that and more,
It's the Morning Kickoff. Back here on the Morning Kickoff,

(50:44):
recapping the week it was at the twenty twenty six
SEC media Days. And the man on the ground who
apparently did a lot of damage, especially to Uber drivers,
is on Texas Football's cig Fuligel. He joins us now
Live from Austin, Texas. He made the trip back late

(51:06):
last night. Good morning to see Jan. Thanks for waking
up early.

Speaker 11 (51:10):
Yeah, Happy Friday, guys, thanks for having me.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
Let's start off with this. Yesterday, of course, Steve Sarkejan
took the podium, arch Man and Colin Simmons, Trevor Gooseby.
What was the best thing that you heard yesterday or
maybe the best thing that you did not hear yesterday.

Speaker 11 (51:29):
I go to Arch, right, and we've talked about it
all off season. The second half that we saw from
the quarterback at the University of Texas was pretty darn good.
I think you would put him in the conversation for
being a top five quarterback in that second half. And
what I heard yesterday was Arch saying the game really
slowed down in that second half. And part of this

(51:50):
quote was, hey, games were four hours long, right. College
football games are long. When you go to them, you
enjoy them. It's a whole day affair. So when I
first started playing college football at the University of Texas
as the starting quarterback, those games went by very quickly.
They were done in a blink. So the minute I started,
I stopped.

Speaker 4 (52:06):
Let it slow.

Speaker 11 (52:07):
Down and enjoy the moment I was in while we
started scoring, and that's when I really started having fun,
was when we ended up having winning games. And so
for that to be kind of where Arch left off
a year ago and now carry that into twenty twenty
six with a much more talented cores around him, I
think for a Texas fan, you have to sit there,

(52:28):
hear that, and be very excited for what's ahead, especially
to start the season.

Speaker 4 (52:33):
CJ.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
Do you think that Arch is getting all of this
negativity because people just want something to talk about, or
do you think that people honestly believe that he doesn't
have elite arm talent, that he doesn't have an elite
skills set.

Speaker 11 (52:54):
Well, I think it comes with I mean, the quarterback
position at the University of actually is as scrutinized as
anyone you'll ever see. Right, it's shortstop of the New
York Yankees, it's the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. You're
gonna have more haters and more people saying you won't
and cannot succeed then faults in your corner, and I
think that just comes with the territory. But you're not

(53:15):
a five star, number one overall ranked quarterback for no reason,
and a lot of Folks who detract from Urchranning will say,
well it's the last name. Well again, go look at
what Arch was able to do that second half of
the season when that offensive line was sorted out. He
played four Top twenty teams and he had a touchdown
to interception ratio close to eighteen to two. So the
kid was able to produce. The kid was able to

(53:36):
play football at a very high level in which Texas. Again,
there are plenty of deficiencies with that offensive year ago,
and time and time again. You look at the A
and M game, you look at the Vanderbilt game, you
look at the Michigan game. All three against top twenty opponents.
He basically put the team on his back when it
came to putting points on the board. It just comes

(53:56):
with the territory at times, because there's no way you can.
You could have watched that and said, this guy just
isn't cut out for playing at the next level.

Speaker 5 (54:06):
Yesterday we got news that John Merrith, who was in
the twenty twenty seven class to cornerback, top three in
the state, top three prospect in the country. He was
expected to transfer from Trendy High School to North Crowley.
That got denied by the UIL, and then yesterday we
find out that he has reclassified the twenty twenty six

(54:29):
the Longhorns will have another five star prospect on their
roster a year earlier than expected. CJ. How does this
impact the Texas cornerback position going into twenty twenty six?

Speaker 11 (54:42):
Yeah, great question. Obviously, anytime you have the opportunity to
add a six foot two, very fluid, very long, lengthy
athletic cornerback, you do. And John Meredith is one of
the best that I've seen, right up there with Devin
Sanchez when it comes to best pure cornerback prospects I've
evaluated at the high school level. And credit to taxes, right,

(55:04):
they've done this now with Marcus Spears junior and basketball.
They did it in volleyball, They've done it in swimming,
allowing their top five star prospects across the country to
enroll early and begin that five for five o'clock a
little bit earlier with no harm to what the eligibility
clock will do for John Meredith. Fantastic. Now what does
that mean for the fall? It's a great question because

(55:26):
right now we don't know he's a guy that's coming
in really trying to fine tune his technique in about
three weeks not going to be an easy thing, especially
at the college level. He needs to be physical, needs
to add some weight. Can he contribute? I think you
see late game situations as kind of all right, go
dip your toes, right because it's supposed to be a

(55:47):
senior in high school. He's supposed to be a guy
that doesn't see college athletics for another four or five months,
given he enrolls early in December. So to ask of
him to start and contribute heavy snaps right away, I
think it might be a bit a bit long, but
right now, just get him on campus, get him under
your roof, and basically use those extra five months of

(56:08):
development and football learning at the best to your ability.

Speaker 5 (56:12):
I think it was at Hamilton who said, yesterday you
asked him, you know, how good is he? And Colin
Simmons said, he's good enough to play a year earlier.
That's how good he is.

Speaker 4 (56:22):
CJ. You kind of answered the question that I was
going to ask.

Speaker 2 (56:26):
You, But do you think that even with him being
an elite athlete and showing all the potential to be
great for next season, that he can add anything this year.

Speaker 11 (56:45):
I think so. I think so. Again, this is a
guy that is one of the best prospects that I've
seen at the position. But Texas has a lot of
talent at that position, right. We just heard all off
season how talented as Samari Matthews was. We we've talked
about the potential and the experience of a Wardel mac
or Warren Roperson, guys who haven't really cracked that starting

(57:07):
lineup but are very experienced in playing college football. So
for John Meredith, it's about can you leap those guys
and earn the trust of the type of staff as
quickly as you can, And as quickly as you can
is basically four weeks, right, you don't have much time
before the season begins. And now at that point the
coaches kind of roll with who they know they can trust.

(57:29):
So I think it's difficult for them.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
CJ, what do you think about using some of these
guys on special teams? Texas had like some woes in
the special teams department. Coach Saban as well as coach Sark,
said that when they were at Alabama, they used their
starters at wide receiver and corner and safety to play

(57:54):
on special teams.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
Why not use these guys.

Speaker 11 (57:58):
Love it, love it. Set them out a gunner punt,
send them out as a kickoff guy, get them out
on the field. Again, It's all about dipping your toes
and making sure that when you are on the field,
are you executing your role? Are you executing what you
were asked of? You're one to eleven, right, And the
best way to sit there and say, hey, I feel

(58:18):
like this guy is making plays, but he's executing what
he's asked to do at a high level without having
to think or second guest or play slowly. Special teams
is a great example of how to do that and
earn that trust.

Speaker 4 (58:31):
And again.

Speaker 11 (58:33):
You look at several guys Texas has had recently, Trey Wisner,
DeAndre Moore, all of these guys beginning their really their
impact for Texas in special teams and then earning roles
that are much larger after that. It all starts there.
So for Meredith, absolutely start them special teams one.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
CJ. We all filled out our preseason balance yesterday at
the SEC Media Days. Give me your preseason I guess
power pol or your preseason predictions for the SEC football.
Who do you have what in the conference and where
do you have Texas.

Speaker 11 (59:10):
At Yeah, I had Texas has my number one team
in the conference. I have Texas as the best team
in the conference from a talent a roster in assimilation
of what they have currently on paper, Georg's number two.
And I asked Sark loosely yesterday, I said, hey, do
you still feel like after two back to back championships
for Georgia on the conference, they're the team to beat?

(59:31):
He say, yes, to beat the To be the king,
you have to beat the king. Well, that's the thing
is should Texas and Georgia play, even with as talented
of a roster Texas currently has. I hesitate to say
that Texas would beat Georgia right. It's been a physicality issue,
it's been a discipline issue, it's been a coaching issue
all three times that they've played. But George is not

(59:51):
on the roster right now, and I do think Texas
on paper again, and that's where these polls come from,
Texas is the most talented team at the moment.

Speaker 5 (01:00:02):
Yeah. With a conversation yesterday about roster wise, I think
you would have taken Texas this year and last year
over Georgia. But what happened in Athens, Georgia got the win.
Mark don't.

Speaker 4 (01:00:15):
I don't believe that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
I think last year UH at wide receiver, they had
dynamic short yardage receiver.

Speaker 4 (01:00:25):
Quarterback is as tough as they come.

Speaker 13 (01:00:28):
And.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
Where Arts lacked and experienced, he had plenty of it.
And that offensive line and defensive lines and outside linebackers
were quality equal in Texas in uh In Statistically, I don't.
I don't feel like Texas roster was that much h

(01:00:51):
are better than than Georgia's roster, especially on understand Texas
might have been more athletic, but Texas didn't have the
experience as those guys did, or Kirby Smart's mentality, which is,
I want to punch you in the mouth and I
want to make you doubt yourself. And Texas now knows

(01:01:13):
what that is and they got to combat it.

Speaker 11 (01:01:18):
One hundred. The thing that stood out to me the
most from hearing from Georgia was Drew Bobo, the offensive
lineman interior. He's a center, I asked him, I said,
where do you get the physicality in the trenches that
you know? It's kind of become synonymous with Georgia football
over there, run under Kirby smart, and he said, look,
it starts with Kirby. He's the guy that every single
day you hear about not being the one to get punched.

(01:01:40):
You're delivering the blow. And I sit there and say,
that's probably right now. The biggest difference between watching a
Georgia football team and then watching a Texas football team,
especially the last couple of years, on the offensive line,
you couldn't gain a yard against Oklahoma, you had four chances.
Couldn't get a yard against Ohio State to tie up
a game late in the fourth quarter. There have been
plenty of ins in is where you look at it

(01:02:00):
and say, hey, the physicality is not quite there. The
scheme might not be there to beat teams that have
equal or more talent than you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
That's not scheme, that's mentality, Like you have to be
able to emotionally get yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
And we can't get one yard.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
We got five or six guys that might get drafted
in the first round. We can't get one yard. Let's go, guys.
I don't care what play they called. We getting this,
We getting these yards, We're getting this first down. That's
a mentality thing, and Texas has really got to dive
into the psychological.

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
Side of what this sport entails.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
People say that it's not war, it's a sport, but
it's a physical sport that requires you to break eggs.
I need to I need to hurt you, I need
to punch you. I need to be more man than
you are. And and that's that's where we're lacking, the

(01:03:08):
psychological side. I don't think it's a physical thing. Just
an opinion.

Speaker 11 (01:03:18):
I couldn't agree more. That's exactly it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:23):
I don't want to tell you Mark. Mark's fired up here.
He's still fired up about the Georgia losses the last
couple of years. Hey, c J. Fogel, he's living the
punches on on Texas Football dot com. Get ready for
a fall camp at on Texas Football Gang. We have
you covered, hey man. We'll see in Austin sometime soon.

Speaker 11 (01:03:43):
Absolutely, guys, Happy Friday.

Speaker 4 (01:03:45):
Appreciate great work.

Speaker 5 (01:03:46):
Man, Happy Friday. That's c J. Fogel from on Texas Football,
following on Twitter at c J Fogel underscore. Oht f Mark,
I think it's almost time for the world strong stick.

Speaker 4 (01:04:00):
Hey, I'm not. I'm just gonna chill in the cut
until we come back.

Speaker 5 (01:04:06):
That's up next year. On the morning kick off. I
feel good Friday, hang with us.

Speaker 8 (01:04:19):
That's what I know.

Speaker 5 (01:04:22):
That's what I do. Y'all know what that music means.

Speaker 9 (01:04:32):
Y'all know what.

Speaker 2 (01:04:33):
Time it is.

Speaker 5 (01:04:35):
It's time for the world's strongest take by the world's
strongest man. Let's hear it, Mark, Cam, you know what
time it is.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
It is time for the world's strongest take by the
world's strongest man.

Speaker 4 (01:04:51):
Back then they didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
Know me, But now that i'm they all ow me,
guys another dish and know the world strongest take. And
with all of this negativity, I want to take this
to a positive. We are getting close to this season

(01:05:14):
starting and there's the potential this season for some Longhorns
to really have a really good year.

Speaker 4 (01:05:25):
And it's projected.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
That this may be the year that Texas has the
most first round picks that has had in a while,
and they have the talent across the board to do
so for people to step up. I'm going to see
what you think about this, Cam, and.

Speaker 4 (01:05:54):
I'll give you my take. Arch Manning.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
Simmons, Trevor Goolsby, Cam Coleman, Rasheen Baws and there's a
potential for Melvin Siani as well as Jelani McDonald as
being guys in this system that their numbers could look

(01:06:22):
really really good and potentially get drafted in the first round.
Minimally a couple of those guys getting drafted in the
second round, I think. So my take is, I do
think that this is a Texas team that has the
potential to actually have one more and I think it

(01:06:45):
would be a defensive lineman, probably Hero Canoe, a guy
you're going to.

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
Need another guy on the line of scrimmage that they
draw double teams.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
They they get the cleanup from the outside Russian and
inside Russian running backs are just gonna they're gonna have
tackles for loss, tackles for loss, tackle for loss. I
think that Hero can do that. Big dude too, even

(01:07:22):
as big as he is. They said he lost like
twelve to fifteen pounds and that he's in the best
shape that he's been in. And a lot of that,
I think is the fact that you have a defensive
coordinator that's like, look, you're not you only gonna get
one chance at this thing. If you get two, you're
very very lucky. But you're only gonna get one chance.

(01:07:44):
Most of the time, I think that Texas could possibly
have a minimum of six.

Speaker 4 (01:07:52):
We'll say you.

Speaker 5 (01:07:54):
I think Texas shatters the record for most first round
draft picks next season. I believe the answer or the
the records three from two years ago when Texas had
Calvin Banks go nine, Shot A Barron, the Broncos, and
Matthew Golden. I mean, if you look at it, I mean,
just off the top, Colin Simmons. Colin Simmons could not

(01:08:19):
make a single tackle all season year, all season long.
He's going to be a first round draft pick. He's
that good Brandon Baker with his size and frame. And
we see how quarterbacks are drafted in the NFL draft.
I mean there's guys who go in the first round
and they're like, what, you know, what are they watching?
But it's not based on you know, the stats or

(01:08:41):
the wins and losses. It's based on what these NFL
GM's coaches are projecting quarterbacks to be because of how
important a position that is in the NFL. In the league,
I think if Arch Manning has a year we expect
him to have, he'll be a first round draft pick.
And then Cam Coleman, who argued, you know, next to
Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams is the you know, the

(01:09:04):
best receiver in the league. He's top three in the country,
and he'll be a first round draft pick this next season.
So that's what four names right there that I say
that the seventy five to eighty percent chance hit on
being first round draft picks. There is your record. You know.
Melvinciani like a six foot six frame. I think the

(01:09:27):
one thing with him is just how does his tape
stack up on the SEC level?

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
Right?

Speaker 5 (01:09:32):
I think a lot of NFL scouts, GMS coaches want
to see, Okay, how does he look moving from you know,
the ACC at Wake Forest to the SCC and if
he holds up and he's able to develop under Kyle
Flood at six foot six, three seventeen, that's the first
round draft pick easily easily. So there, there's that that

(01:09:54):
could be five there, you know. In the same thing
with Rashine Biles, a lot of people love him, a
lot of scouts love him. I think there was some
thought about him being drafted, uh declaring for the NFL
this last season. Wanted to come back, you know, maybe
put some SEC tape on his resume and stack up there,

(01:10:16):
you know, I think'll for sure see three four guys
drafted in the first round. Mark to your point, I
think in the first two rounds, three rounds that could
reach double digits.

Speaker 2 (01:10:30):
Wow wow, Okay, all right, well that blows what I
was thinking out of the water. I think Canoe and uh
Jelani McDonald or wild cards because they paid positions that

(01:10:52):
could garner the kind of statistical output that first round
pick would get in this defense. Offensively, uh, you know,
it's it's arch and linebackers and wide receiver. I think
that wing Go is the first round draft pick. I

(01:11:16):
hope that Wingo don't come out and we have him
next season. But what if, I mean they what if
they do like the Cowboys and you have a CD
Lamb and a picking situation where Coleman has seven touchdowns
and and Wingo has seven touchdowns, then you you solidify

(01:11:40):
yourself as an elite. So yeah, I mean, I'm my
take today is that the Longhorns will be able to
put some guys in the prominent position.

Speaker 5 (01:11:53):
Hey, that's a take I like to take. Sark likes,
it's a take Longhorn Nation likes. We've had a great
show for you. We're gonna come back to wrap it up.
We're not done yet, not just yet. We're gonna hear
from Lane Kiffin. And you always know Lane's got something
to say. It's the morning kickoff here on a feel
good Friday. Comes back right after this. Not hear the

(01:12:27):
wrap up the morning Kickoff on a feel Good Friday.
Thanks to Tjfvogel from On Texas Football from Stomping By.
We've heard from Steve Sarkejian, We've heard from Arch Manning.
I want to hear from Lane Kiffin before we wrap up. Now,
before we play this quote. When coaches give their their

(01:12:48):
press conference in the main media area, they're allotted for
thirty minutes of time. So Lane Kiffin, who went on
the last day, considering, you know, all the hooplaw that
he's gone through, from that messy exit at ole Miss,
taking the LSU job, the fight between the ole Miss

(01:13:09):
at FLEG department and letting him go the Fandy Fair article,
a lot happened now. Usually most of these coaches, they
open up, their opening statement might be from like five
to ten minutes long. Lane Kiffin made a two eight
hundred in word opening statement that span I think seventeen

(01:13:31):
minutes and that's what you do. You filibuster. You don't
want to take questions like this one.

Speaker 14 (01:13:38):
When you were at Ole Miss, you led them to
the third most wins in the conference. Since twenty two.
You had ten players drafted or signed his free agents
in the twenty five draft, eight players drafted or signed
his free agents in the twenty sixth class. He had
a top four portal class each of the last three
portal cycles you were there, Jackson dart first round pick.

(01:14:00):
Yet in a Vanity Fair article you said Oxford diversity
hurt you in talent acquisition. So what is it your
belief that if there was a little bit more diversity
all those numbers, I cided it could have been even better.

Speaker 13 (01:14:15):
I had a feeling that was going somewhere. You were
doing like really positive stuff the whole way through. I'm like, man,
this guy's good. It sounds like, let's go to work
for Jimmy Sexton. Man, you're like going a good direction there.
You know, I made a challenging decision and change, and
I think as I look back to that, I thought

(01:14:36):
I could find a way for everybody to understand. And
now as I look back later on, that was never
gonna happen, and I made a decision that I changed jobs.
And as I get older and I go through things
and losing both parents, I was actually talking to Ross
Dellinger and I kind of said something that might sound
kind of funny to you, but you know, I watched

(01:14:58):
the Hulk Hogan Special and I realized and I was like,
we're all gonna die, and so some of the things
that we put importance do we worry about and what
this person says in that like really aren't going to matter.
And when I lost my dad, I started thinking that,
and I really started thinking when I grew up, there
were two people that I thought just wouldn't die, my

(01:15:20):
dad and Hulk Hogan. And then I watched that special
and really like, Hulk Hogan died too. There's no way
Hulk Hogan was ever going to not.

Speaker 5 (01:15:27):
Wrestle and die, and he did.

Speaker 13 (01:15:29):
And so it just made me reflect really on, like
I can't be so concerned about little things and what
people say in this And you got to make decisions.
You got to go with them, and you do things
and you make really good decisions and you make poor decisions.
And that was a poor usage of a term that
I believe, just like many coaches that have been therefore,

(01:15:50):
was factual, but over the course of the long interview
was bad timing and bad usage of the words. So
it is what it is. I apologize when and I
said it, and.

Speaker 5 (01:16:03):
Moving on, I'll tell you what, Mark Henry, September nineteenth,
lsu at Ole, Miss seven thirty pm kickoff night game
in the Grove. That's gonna be one that I'm gonna
be counting down the days for.

Speaker 2 (01:16:19):
Oh yeah, I mean outside of Texas. I'm excited for
that game because there's some there's some animosity still lingering
over the decisions that were made, the things that were said.

Speaker 4 (01:16:39):
There were some coaches that.

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
Were told, if you don't get on the plane, then
your ass is gone. And that's you don't talk to
a man like that, especially one that you wanted to
become work for you. You're gonna talk to me tough,
like why would you do? Now, I'm gonna tell my
team this is what he said to me. I need

(01:17:08):
this as a man. I just want y'all to give
me that. Just give me that.

Speaker 4 (01:17:16):
Like that. That's gonna be a hell of a game.
It's gonna be a hell of a game.

Speaker 5 (01:17:21):
Yeah, a lot to unpack from Matt Lane Kiffin answer,
a lot to unpact from the SEC media days. We've
got some of it done, a lot more to get
to next week. Me and Mark Kenry will be back
on the Morning Kickoff next Monday. Thanks so much to
CJ Fogel, Thanks to Ronald Savage Junior behind the board
pushing the ones into his I'm Cameron Parker. Enjoy your

(01:17:43):
feel good Friday. Thanks for hanging out with us. We'll
see you next week.